>> "Uhm. I guess Platonic sounds about right. I don't think he would have an issue except that personal attachments can cloud judgement."

It was a very practical assessment of flirtation and relationships. In fact, it was one that was old and still true, harkening back to spy tactics of flirting and seduction to lower the guard of an enemy. Romantic entanglements found their way to the front of someone's mind, and that spot was reserved for self-preservation. If he was still going about a life of thievery and had Quin back home, the implications running through his mind would mean a delay in reaction and that could be his end.

This really brought to his mind the mentality of this swordmaster. He was classical, practical, and mysterious-- the sort of man he would have sought for training in the first place. "I wouldn't mind meeting this swordmaster of yours one day." He punctuated his statement with another bite of his treat.

>> "It might be too late for me. But I guess I could decide to cut all ties with Aedus right here and now. I could forget him and his parents and go on... going on."

So his name's Aedus. Noted. Any information was information worth remembering.

What she said was the truth, especially for her. His frank answer came first. "Yeah, it's worked in the past when you've needed it to." His life certainly would have been easier if he could whitewash memories at the drop of a hat.

Still, there was a more sentimental side to the idea. "Maybe keeping him around could be good for you though; it's a new thing, and it could be a chance at a solid presence. At least, while it lasts." Could not be too optimistic there.

>> "Do you kiss people casually? Or... would you if you didn't have a main squeeze?

Oh Noel; you could make a tan man blush. Nate had to chuckle at the question, given his checkered past. "When I was single? There was admittedly a time when I'd be up for kissing pretty much any pair of pretty lips that were kissing me back. I mean, two single adults should be free to do what they want." He thought about Quin, grinning. "If anything, Quin is one of the very few people I haven't kissed casually. Wandering and hiding don't exactly promote much more than that."

Somehow, everytime she talked about Sebastian, people ended up wanting to meet him. He was a special guy, she supposed, but what was it that made him so desirable to strangers? Noel hadn't gone out of her way to sing his praises. She'd just mentioned a very little bit about what he was like. "Sebastian, my swordmaster, is a very busy person. He's even started having me train people more and more. But that's beside the point. If you really wanted to meet him, I'm sure you could. Just... don't expect rainbows or anything." Miracles, yeah, but not rainbows.

Noel appreciated that Steven didn't sugar coat anything. He didn't wax poetic about how life wasn't worth living when you cut off pieces of your past. He knew better from personal experience. He just said that it had worked before. And that meant it could work again. Unfortunately, it also seemed that he was leaving it up to Noel to decide whether it was worth it to continue or forget the whole thing.

> "Maybe keeping him around could be good for you though; it's a new thing, and it could be a chance at a solid presence. At least, while it lasts."

"You're a solid presence and I don't have to smooch you." Maybe she was just feeling argumentative, though. By no means did Noel dislike kissing Aedus.

"Okay, all your wandering aside, what's the difference? How do you know when your kisses cross the line from casual to... more than casual. I mean, I don't feel that would have done this before, but not to long ago I kissed a guy for directions. He didn't mind, but I don't think I liked it."

>> "Sebastian, my swordmaster, is a very busy person. He's even started having me train people more and more. But that's beside the point. If you really wanted to meet him, I'm sure you could. Just... don't expect rainbows or anything."

"I understand. I'm just curious about the sort of man he is. There aren't many swordmasters left these days." If he was having Noel train students, maybe she was on her way to becoming one of the dying breed.

>> "Okay, all your wandering aside, what's the difference? How do you know when your kisses cross the line from casual to... more than casual. I mean, I don't feel that would have done this before, but not to long ago I kissed a guy for directions. He didn't mind, but I don't think I liked it."

He was wracking his brain trying to explain these differences, but it was close to impossible. "It's not a logical thing so I'm having a hard time putting it into words. It's not the kissing that makes the difference; it's how you feel. You would have to be the one to figure out if it's something more than casual." He chuckled to himself. "So I'm kinda useless to you. Sorry 'bout that."

"I don't think he's a swordmaster by trade..." What did Sebastian do for money? He didn't seem to have much outside of using his credit cards. "I think he was in medical school?" But he could also sew and cook...

Heck. Noel seemed to find the most domestic men. Maybe because she was domestically challenged? Or maybe that just gave the people around her the chance to step up to visibly fill a need. And the only people who could stand her for any amount of time were men. Hmm.

And Steven was no help after all. Noel looked down at her neglected gelato. There was one lump left in a soupy sea. "I don't like your answer." She frowned and considered asking for a different one.

Instead she decided that asking a different question might be more fruitful. "You say that you kissed everything with lips before... and now you only kiss Quin." She tried to apply what she had just learned and logic through it. Those brain gears were spinning in overtime. "I guess... it's your Quin feelings that make you not want to kiss other people. You only want her, right? Nobody else?"

Noel had felt guilty about kissing other people, but her guilt was based in the fact that she had used someone because it was convenient for her. In a way, kissing Aedus was still a convenience for her. And so was his cooking. She didn't exactly have anything tying her lips to his alone... so that meant that she didn't have feelings for him. Right?

"Maybe I'm just using him for his knowledge and his cooking." It sounded really heartless when she said it out loud, but she had to share her thoughts with Steven honestly. Otherwise there would have been no point in today's meeting.

So the swordmaster was not a full-time swordmaster, but that did little to change Nate's image of the man. He was a curious case, with none of what Noel already said explaining much. So far he was a possible doctor, swordsman, married but living with his student and had a past record of snogging other gentleman.

As for Noel's predicament, as he expected, his non-answer did not sit well with her. He did not blame her; she was in new territory without a battle plan and he basically wished her luck and told her to figure it out.

Surprisingly, she countered with a new question along similar lines regarding Quin. Noel's remarks were fairly accurate, so if nothing else, she was piecing together his love life. "Pretty much. I don't feel like I need to kiss other people. Being with Quin is important to me. She makes me happy and I would not complicate that with any stray acts of promiscuity." Look at him: newfound master of monogamy!

Noel seemed to contemplate her own situation, declaring the possibility that her connection with Aedus was just convenient. He shrugged; it was not pretty, but sometimes the truth was harsh. "It's possible. I mean, I hate to point it out, but you haven't exactly been sure about anything. One thing I can say for sure is that when I decided I liked Quin, I was pretty damn sure."

Of course, as with everything, there were no set-in-stone rules for love. "Maybe it'll be something more in time, but for right now, he might just be something nice but not necessary to have in your life."

Or maybe not. He refrained from adding the last comment. She had endured enough of his indecisive non-advice. It would have helped if Noel's emotions and mind did not work so vastly differently than the typical people he had spent his time learning, but there was no fixing that. For better or worse, he would stick with the opinion he shared.

Noel had none of this surety stuff that Steven was talking about.

"Right. Totally not necessary." Now he was making sense. She was living just fine without Aedus. Why had she considered moving in again? Was it the pancakes? Noel nudged her fast melting last lump of gelato. She'd lost her sweet tooth with all the talk.

"I'm not looking for promiscuity either, mind you. In fact, I'm not looking for anything at all." And that was the simplest way to keep things as they were, right? She had a good thing going on with Sebastian's church and her job at Faust Pharmaceuticals. Also, didn't places have rules about kissing co-workers or something? Maybe she should look that up.

"So do I have to tell him? Or can I just... not?"

So apparently what he had said was registering with Noel, which made Nate wonder if it was what she wanted to hear in the first place. When it came down to it, most people liked having that last affirmation of their beliefs before going through with a major decision.

She was not looking for anything, which oddly suited her. It was a foreign idea to think of Noel as a love-struck young woman, but it was normal to think of her as a fiercely independent one.

She did bring up a good question though; did she owe him an explanation? "...No. Well, no, as long as you never gave him reason to assume you would end up wanting a relationship. If not, then just keep being yourself."

Nate scanned the area around them, finding the nearest trash bin. He tossed his empty cup of gelato and successfully sank the shot. Noel seemed to be ignoring her treat; perhaps she was no longer in the mood for it. "Well, it looks like we're both just about done here. Do you wanna go duel somewhere or do you have things to do?" He had no engagements for the afternoon, so he figured he would offer. Maybe she could use an outlet for some stress relief, and beating him with a sword could offer that.

Reasons Aedus might think Noel wanted a relationship flashed through her mind with crisp bullet points:

• She kissed him. More often at first, but she still kissed him more than anyone else she could remember.
  
  
• She asked to meet his parents and he let her. She'd met more than just his parents, in fact. She'd met most of the Teague clan at their crazy Thanksgiving extravaganza. Noel had gotten along really well with his mother. They'd swapped cell phone numbers.
  
  
• She ate lunch with Aedus every day they were both at work. Granted, he cooked that lunch, but they also had a built in game. Aedus would do something crazy while cooking and she would look through what she could see in the making of the meal to find what was out of place.

Crap. What if they were already in a relationship? "Wait. How do you know when you're dating someone?" Was there a slight tone of panic in her voice? Nawwww... She got up and tossed her gelato away too.

"Yes. Sparring. We should do that." That was much more familiar ground for Noel. Also, Steven wouldn't have such an easy time of it. Today Noel was fully rested.

>> "Wait. How do you know when you're dating someone?"

She was. Truly unbelievable. Nate almost had no words for Noel's question because, for anyone else, it would have been sarcastic or rhetorical. Unfortunately for Noel, she was not anyone else. "You know what? I take it back. Talk to him. At this point, maybe he'll have a slightly better idea of what you two are than either of us."

Nate's advice was only so useful with Noel as clueless as she was in matters of the heart. If she wanted to know what was going on, Aedus was probably her best bet; she just had to be honest.

With that squared away, they set off to fence, which was something that Noel actually did have command of.